Free falling
by WhisperWrite
Summary: Elena Steinberg disappeared on her 17th birthday, never to be seen again. When Lilly Rush re-opens the case 25 years later, she finds herself right in the middle of a family drama with serious consequences. Written like a real case. Slight Lilly/Scotty.
1. Chapter 1

**Cold Case: Free falling**

_**May 1, 1984**_

_(Music: Girls just wanna have fun; Cyndi Lauper)_

_The car was driving down the road much too fast. The two girls in it where squealing excitedly while singing along with the cheesy pop song on the radio. One of them was a natural beauty: black hair, pale skin and full lips. She looked like Snow White come to life. The girl next to here was totally disappearing next to that prettiness, though she might have been good looking keeping different company. Her blond locks were flying around her head as the air that was rushing through the opened window tangled them up._

"_Can you believe this, Mary, we are finally on the road!" The black haired girl screamed, predominating the volume from the stereo._

_The blonde smiled; a tiny, shy little smile that did not quite reach her eyes. _

"_Yes, it's amazing." She answered, not at all as enthusiastic as her friend seemed to be. "I still can't believe you just took your Dad's car, Elena. He is gonna be so mad!"_

_The beauty rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I told you to stop this crap. I'm seventeen, I am allowed to drive on my own." She hesitated for a moment, as if she wasn't sure if sharing the next part of information would be a good idea. Then she went on anyways. "Besides, I don't think my father will even notice. It's just for the weekend, for my birthday."_

_Mary nodded, then turned her head so her friend wouldn't see the worried, almost panicked look on her face._

_

* * *

_

_A sharp scream sounded through the foggy, starless night. It was loud enough to wake the whole village but abruptly vanished with a soft thud, almost like a stuffed bag falling to the ground from a great height. Someone made his way down an old wooden ladder to find a girl on the floor of a barn, her black hair sprawled all around her. Her lips were still the color of an outstanding red, though the life in her eyes was already gone._

_

* * *

_

A detective sighed as he looked at the picture of a gorgeous, raven haired girl before putting it into a white evidence box and closing the lid. Unsolved cases with missing children – or young adults, for that matter – were always the worst. To tell the parents that their little girl's murderer could not be caught, to not get them the final close up they deserved felt like an aching pain. All he could hope for was that some day in the future more evidence would turn up and another set of detectives would look at the case all over again.

_He switched of the light, leaving the box and the murder in the darkness._

_

* * *

_

_September, 2009_

Lilly Rush was sitting at her desk, staring out of the large windows and wondering if this day could become any more boring. She had come in pretty early, hoping for a new case to be opened, since they finished the one of a local drug dealer the other day, but nothing. There was simply nothing. All Stillman had handed her were some forms to fill out, forms about insurance and psychological help and other crap she had no intention of looking into. She was a homicide detective for god's sake, there head to be some investigating she could do. People to be saved or murderer's to be arrested.

Lilly sighed, for at least the hundredth time during the past hour, and thought about getting herself a nice cup of coffee. Right at that thought, Scotty Valens entered the squad room, nodding at the passing detectives and walking straight over to Lilly's desk. She looked up at him in confusion.

"Is everything alright?" She was slightly concerned because normally he never walked over to her at first thing in the morning. But when he smiled down at her and pulled a cup of Philly's finest coffee out from nowhere, placing it on her desk, a smile that reached her eyes formed on her lips.

"I thought you might need some coffee – real coffee, not the crap we have in homicide." He winked before turning and making his way over to his own desk.

"Where's mine?" Vera asked, looking up with a mock offended look on his face.

Scotty didn't even look at him when he answered. "If you grow yourself a nice blond ponytail and dress up in a dark-blue blouse, I might get you some, too."

Lilly's cheeks turned beet red while Vera murmured something under his breath. He might have said something out loud, but – fortunately at least for Lil – a woman walked up to them, nervously playing with a strand of her blond hair.

"Are you guys detectives?" She asked, not meeting their eyes for more than a few seconds.

"Yup." Vera nodded, pointing over at Scotty. "And that's the one who's got it for the blond ladies. You should talk to him." He devilishly smirked at Scotty before getting to his feet and snatching Lilly's coffee from right under her nose.

"You don't need it anymore, got a witness to talk to." He pointed out, nipping any kind of revolt coming from her in the bud. Lilly gave him an icy stare, but got up and walked over to the woman who had become even more edgy after Vera's comment.

Lilly smiled at her with as much friendliness as she possessed and led her over to a place a little more private to talk. "Sorry about that." She said while walking, "his behavior was totally out of place." Lilly pulled out a chair and the woman took a seat thankfully.

"Thanks…" she started, then looked up at her opponent, realizing she didn't even get the detective's name.

"…Detective Lilly Rush." Lilly introduced herself, extending her hand.

"Mary Avery," the blonde introduce herself. "I'm here about my friend, Elena."

Lilly nodded while searching for a pen. She could have sworn there had been one in her pocket this morning, but now it was gone. She excused herself and stood up to get one, but nearly smacked into Scotty when she turned to walk out the door.

"Ball-point pen?" he asked, standing so close his face was only inches from hers. Lilly took a step back and grabbed the pen out of his hand.

"Thanks." She said, furrowing her brow in confusion. What the hell was up with her partner this morning? The way he had acted since he got to Headquarters…

Lilly re-focused her thoughts, away from the strange behavior of her partner back to the case she hoped to be on really soon. No more paperwork for her today!

She returned to Mary Avery and realized with another odd feeling in her guts that Scotty was following her over there, too, already introducing himself.

_Stop it, Rush! _She ordered herself. _The guy is your partner. Of course he's following you._

Lilly sat down and started writing on her notepad. "Alright, Mrs. Avery, you wanted to tell me about Elena?"

"It's Miss," the blonde answered with a small smile. "And yes, I did. Elena and I were – well, you could call it friends – back in 1984. She went missing one day and never returned. Her clothes did, though, so they said it was murder. But neither the body nor the doer was found." She sniffed, trying to blink away her tears and Lilly placed a hand on her arm to give her some comfort. It was always hard for friends or family members to talk about their death beloved ones, but this woman seemed so small and fragile she was actually astonished she didn't start crying.

Scotty handed a handkerchief to the woman and pulled a chair over to their table to sit down himself. "You said she went missing one day. Do you know which day exactly it was?"

Miss Avery sniffed, than nodded and turned to face the other detective. "I do, indeed. It was May 1, it was her birthday."

* * *

**This is my first attempt in doing a Cold Case fanfiction and my very first attempt in doing a ff in the style of a TV Episode.**

**Please tell me what you think, comments make me smile and (hopefully) write faster.**

**Oh, and this is set somewhere around the first episodes of season 6, just without all the Moe drama, cause I'ma bring on my own stuff**.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thanks for the three amazing reviews I got so far; I appreciated every single one of them. I'm sorry for the grammatical mistakes I've made, I'm German so English isn't my first language ;).**_

_**I also wanted to thank everyone who subbed my story and/or me, that's really sweet of you.**_

_**Now all I can hope for is for you to like the chapter and to leave a comment afterwards.**_

_**Now, without further talking from me, here is the chapter.**_

* * *

Scotty and Lilly both said their goodbyes to Mary Avery as she made her way out of the squad room. They had talked to her for about five minutes, learning that Elena had dismissed her family to spend her birthday with some of the friends she made in a small town called Nanticoke, about two and a half hours away from Philadelphia. She had vacationed in that village for the past two years, her parents had bought a small house next to the one Mary lived in. The two girls had become fast friends, being together every holiday or school break Elena came out to the countryside. The reason that Mary was brining it all up again was a card she had found at the churchyard. She had been in Nanticoke for her grandma's birthday and went to Elena's grave, when she noticed the small white card placed under a rock so it would have some cover from the rain. The paper had been in a really bad shape anyways, but at least the words written on it where still readable.

Lilly wrinkled her nose as she looked at the scribbled letters once again, lifting the card closer to her eyes so she'd maybe find something else on it. But there wasn't anything. Nothing besides the three little words:

**Happy 25****th**** Deathday!**

As Mary had told them, there were only few people who knew Elena's date of birth. And even less had the knowledge that she had disappeared exactly that day. The 'Deathday' pun couldn't just be a coincidence. And knowing that Elena's murderer had known about her birthday brought a whole new edge to the case.

"Earth to Rush, you still with us?" Lilly's head snapped up as Scotty waved his hand in front of her face, eying her curiously. "You alright?"

She nodded, returning into the room full of detectives and noticing that Kat Miller was standing in front of her and had apparently been talking to her.

"Oh Kat, hi. I'm sorry, I was just thinking about the case…" She trailed of, wondering how long she had been out.

"I saw that." Kat stated in her inimitable way of talking. "I wanted to know if there was something I could do, talk to relatives or anything?"

Lilly raised one eyebrow and eyed the smaller detective curiously. Kat Miller would never come up and suggest talking to relatives. She was the one who went to kick the ex boyfriend's ass or find the mysterious stalker. "I just wanted to get the box from the warehouse, but if you're so eager to do an interview, you can get the address of her parents and give them a visit. Tell we're re-opening their daughter's case."

Kat nodded thankfully and rushed over to her desk. Lilly just shook her head and motioned for Scotty to follow her into the warehouse.

"You know what's up with Miller today?" She asked while the elevator doors closed with a small thud. Scotty was about to shake his head no, when he re-thought the question for a second.

"I'm not sure," he said after a few moments, "but when she came in this morning she had a smile on her face, so it must've been something that happened here."

Lilly snorted. "Bet it was Vera. Maybe he stole something to eat from her." She reminisced about her coffee for a minute, until Scotty spoke up again.

"About that cup of coffee this morning, I'm sorry he took it. I'll make it up to you." He gave her a flirtatious smile but before she was able to react to it in a proper way the elevator doors opened and he walked past her, leaving her in the small cabin with her thoughts running wild.

She nearly missed getting out, but was eventually able to shake off the motionlessness so she could follow her partner into the warehouse.

Scotty had already found the box labeled '_Steinberg, E._' when she reached him. She took the evidence box out of his hands without a word, lifting off the lid and pulling out a picture. But not just any picture. It was the photography of the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Her hair was black and silky, her eyes huge and her skin the perfect shade of creamy. Her lips were from a dark red and her features looked stunning as well. Lilly's breath caught in her throat for a moment. "Look at this, Scotty," she nearly whispered, "She was gorgeous."

Scotty glanced at the picture for less than a second, then shrugged. "She's pretty, but I've seen better." Lilly looked up at him astonished, only to find him giving her that gaze of his again. She quickly turned her eyes back to the girl's image, but she couldn't stop her thoughts from spinning again. What the hell was up with Scotty today? Last night, after solving the case, he'd just been normal Scotty, her partner, like it had been the past six years. And now he was acting all differently, smiling at her, bringing her coffee… If she didn't know better she'd think he was… flirting with her. She gasped slightly and glanced at him again, out of the corner of her eyes. Could he, Scotty Valens, handsome Puerto Rican guy with a hero complex be hitting on her, Lilly Rush, the ultimate Ice Queen of homicide? Was this possible at all?

She was still pondering that question when Stillman walked up behind the two of them.

"You got a new case?" He asked, eying the box curiously.

"Yes Boss," Lilly nodded. "Elena Steinberg, disappeared May 1, 1984. Her friend brought in new evidence and we're re-opening." She handed him the girl's picture and took the file out of the box.

"Anyone seeing the family yet?"

"Yes." Scotty informed his boss. "Miller is searching for the address as we speak."

Stillman nodded and then looked down at the picture in his hands. After a few moments of silence he sighed. "One more proof that good looks don't help you in the real world."

Lilly eyed him in bewilderment. "Who would think being pretty is any helpful?" She asked perplexed. "It only helps you get lots of admirer and with those come the envier and then you end up death."

"Happens all the time!" She added as she noticed the way both her boss and partner looked at her. "At least half of our cases are connected to envy or love gone wrong, or both."

"She got a point in that." Scotty admitted.

Lilly gave Stillman her 'see, I knew it' look, but didn't say anything else about the topic. She had read the first lines of the file and was hooked. Apparently, the detectives investigating the case the first time had only talked to two persons overall – Elena's father and Ramon Hallshin, a farmer living in Nanticoke – and from what Lilly had already read, he had never even been speaking to Elena.

"This is total crap." She announced, throwing the paper back into the box in frustration. "They didn't even talk to Mary, and as far as I understood her, she was one of only a few persons who knew that Elena went to that village the day she disappeared."

Scotty looked at her in disbelieve. "You're saying they closed the investigation without even interrogating anyone from the location where she went missing?"

Lilly nodded, rolling her eyes. "The only guy they spoke to besides her parents was some Nanticoke farmer who seems to not even have met Elena when she was still alive. They did a really crappy job on that one." She gazed over at Stillman to see if he was affected by the way she was talking about the former detectives, but he just smiled at her.

"It's okay, Lil. I never thought all detectives my age or older are perfect. Besides, back in '84 there were a lot of cases with more evidence. Cases like this one just went to the back of everyone's mind."

Scotty took the evidence box out of Lilly's hands and placed the lid back on it. "Let's go back upstairs, see if Miller already found the parents," he suggested, making his way over to the stairways. Lilly followed him and Stillman, still gazing at the picture of the beautiful girl.

_We'll find your murderer, Elena._ She reassured the smiling face on it.

In the meantime, Kat Miller had called about ten persons named Steinberg and was about to get really pissed. She would have never thought there were so many with that surname in Philadelphia. After dialing the eleventh number it only took seconds until someone picked up the phone at the end of the line.

"John Steinberg." Kat ceased for a moment, not sure if she had called the right number. She had for sure been talking to a John Steinberg only minutes ago.

"Detective Miller, Philly homicide." She introduced herself anyway. If it was the same John as before, he would tell her soon enough. When she heard no response, she went on with the words she had already spoken ten times in the past hour.

"I'm calling about a case from '84. A girl, Elena Steinberg, went missing that year. Are you related to her?" Kat waited anxiously. _Please, _she begged in silence, _please let it be the right Steinberg this time._

The voice at the other end of the line was quiet for some time before speaking up again.

"I was Elena's father. How may I help you?" Kat noticed that his voice had become an edge since she announced Elena's name, as if he was less friendly now than only seconds ago.

"We are re-opening your daughter's case, Mr. Steinberg, and we'd like to talk to you."

"I'm not sure I have time for that!" Now he was definitely unfriendly.

"I bet you can make some." Kat answered right away. If grumpy was what she got from him, than grumpy was what he'd get right back.

Half an hour later, Kat and Will got out of the car in front of an ordinary little house in Chestnut Hill. As they went up to the door Kat noticed the absence of anything personal. This house might've belonged to anyone or even been empty. There were no flowers in the little garden, no decoration of any kind.

After ringing the doorbell the two detectives waited in uncomfortable silence. Kat had told Jeffries about Mr. Steinberg's attitude on the phone and they were in contemplation of a rather difficult interview.

"You think he might have just bolted?" Will asked with a low voice, eying the door curiously. "Since he didn't want to talk to us in the first place?"

"I…" Kat went to answer but was interrupted by the door opening. A lean but tall man in his mid forties looked down at them, raising an eyebrow furiously.

"You're the detectives, right?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "I already told you on the phone, I don't…"

"Mr. Steinberg," Kat broke off his speech. "We are investigating your daughter's murder, so either you or your wife will have to talk to us!"

Mr. Steinberg froze for a moment before he started laughing. It was the first emotion the two of them saw on his otherwise composed face. "And you call yourself detectives? No wonder they never found my daughter." He stepped back while opening the door even further.

"My wife died ten years ago." He said while motioning for them to come inside the house.

Kat and Will looked at each other perplexed, but quickly made their way inside. You were not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth after all!

They took a seat in the living room, finding it as strangely empty and impersonal as the exterior had been. Mr. Steinberg brought them some coffee before sitting down in a brown armchair, folding his hands in his lap.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" Elena's father appeared to have given up his disobliging behavior altogether. Kat smiled at him politely. She liked him a lot better this way.

"Your daughter disappeared on her seventeenth birthday. What do you remember from that date?" She pulled out a pen to note down what he was about to say.

Mr. Steinberg thought for a moment before answering. "Not much, actually. I got up at eight o'clock in the morning as always. I checked on my wife. I went to wake Elena and she was gone." He ran his hands through his hair. "I waited until the day after. My car was gone so I knew she had taken it. I thought this might just be some kind of revolt, her showing me that she could do whatever she wanted to. I didn't want the police to interfere with our personal business…" He trailed off.

Kat nodded, scribbling down on her notepad. "But when she didn't return after two days, you called 'em, right?"

Elena's father nodded. "I wasn't irresponsible, even if it might look like it right now. Elena was just… she was different. I still remember the day we first appeared in Nanticoke. She was like a ghost when we got there; her brother's death was all over her face, though he had died years ago." Kat wanted to pose another question, but Will raised his hand and stopped her. He wanted to hear the man's story.

_**June 17, 1982**_

_(Music: Eyes without a face; Billy Idol)_

_The car came to an abrupt hold in front of an old farm. Three persons where sitting inside, one of them a woman with brown hair, pulled up in a messy knot on the back of her head. Her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses and she sheltered her face when she got out of the vehicle. She wasn't the first to leave it though, because her tall and good-looking husband made it out before her, a huge smile on his face._

"_Look around you, Gina, that's what I've been talking about. There's nothing like coming out to the countryside." His wife just looked down, never acknowledging that she had even heard his words. But she wasn't the only one who didn't seem excited about the location she found herself in. In the back of the car, so stiff and quiet that she was nearly invisible, sat a black haired girl. Her eyes seemed empty, her gaze hollow and her expression numb._

"_Get out, Elena." Her father opened her door and stepped back so she could exit. When she just remained sitting, he shot an icy glare her way. This – and this only – was the lone time that life came to her eyes. Suddenly they were full of emotion, full of hurt and betrayal – and loneliness._

_But she did what her father had told her to and was soon in the middle of an excited crowd forming around the newcomers. At least three of the residents introduced themselves to Elena's father and more than one of them openly stared at the girl. She was extraordinarily beautiful and there was no one in all of Nanticoke to bear comparison with her._

_Only one of the bystanders did not gawk. It was a girl, about Elena's age, who smiled at her when their gazes met. And though she was obviously fighting it, Elena's lips formed a tiny little smile as a response._

"That was Mary Avery," concluded Mr. Steinberg. "She was the one to bring back the smile to my daughter's face."

"Do you think Elena might have been killed in Nanticoke?" Jeffries spoke up for the first time.

Mr. Steinberg just shrugged. "All I know is that no one in Philadelphia knew her good enough to want to kill her. It was in that little town that people recognized her name, that people cared about her, that she mattered."


End file.
